Heartshaped Rocks
by Fearless.Love.Life
Summary: Cameron and Nikki are going out, everything is pure bliss. Nikki paints him a rock, in the shape of a heart, to show her love. Nikki sees Cam with another girl. Can he explain his situation, or is it too late to apologize? ONESHOT! Please Read and review!


'This is a slow one, for all you lovers tonight.' The deejay announced from the mixer table at the school dance. This was the last dance of the school year, in early June, so it was very warm out. From where she was sitting on the bleachers, Nikki could see all of the couples, dancing to the slow beat. She felt a light tap on her shoulder, and turned around.

'Do you want to dance?' Cameron asked.

'Um, yeah, I'd love to.' She replied.

He grabbed her hand, and led her to the dance floor. He put his hands around her waist, and she put hers around his neck. As they swayed in time to the music, she thought that she couldn't be happier. She had liked Cam for a long time, and now, he seemed to return the feeling. Suddenly, Cameron pressed his mouth against Nikki's, and she didn't try to stop him. She could feel people looking at them, but for once, she didn't care, she was the happiest girl in the world. They didn't leave each other's sight for the rest of the dance.

As soon as the dance ended, Cameron said, 'Come on, I'll walk you home.'

'Oh, you don't have to do that; I'll manage on my own.' Nikki responded.

'No, seriously, I have something to ask you.' He insisted.

'Fine.' Nikki sighed, a bit disgruntled, and because she was looking forward to the walk on the beach, thinking of what had just happened. That was okay, though, because she had hoped that he would insist. He closed his hand around hers, and started out the door.

They were both silent for most of the walk, until Cameron said, 'Lets sit on this bench.'

He gestured to the bench with his free hand. They both sat down. Nikki noticed that Cameron looked really nervous, which was weird, because he was usually very calm, or very good at hiding what he actually felt like.

'Um…' he started, his voice slightly higher that usual. 'I was wondering if…um…'

'Yeah?' Nikki asked, impatiently hoping that he would just tell her.

'I wanted to know if you um…wanted to be my girlfriend.' He said, very rushed, as if he wanted to get it over with. It took a few seconds to sink in. But as soon as Nikki realized what he wanted, she started to grin.

'Yeah, I'll be your girlfriend.'

'Good' Cameron said, sounding very relieved.

They started to kiss again, when they heard a voice, sounding strangely like Derrick's. They stopped, and looked around. Nikki noticed that Bradin and Derrick were playing in the park, across the street. Bradin had stopped pushing Derrick on the swings, and they both stopped to look over at the bench, recognizing Nikki and Cameron.

'Um…hi.' Nikki said, sounding flustered, for the first time that Cameron had known her. She usually sounded so calm and confident, something that he found so attractive.

'Hey Nikki.' Bradin held up his hand. 'Cameron.' He nodded, as if he hadn't seen anything.

'We were just, uh, heading home, if you were wondering.' Nikki said, hoping that neither Bradin nor Derrick was wondering.

Cameron and Nikki continued walking towards her house again silently, hand in hand. When they got to the front door, they exchanged good-byes. Nikki closed her mouth around Cameron's. When the porch light turned on, they decided that they were done, unless they wanted company. As soon as they said bye, Nikki went inside, ran to her room and closed the door. As she was lying on her bed with a huge grin on her face, someone knocked on her door.

'Come in!' She said, quickly hopping off of her bed, to her desk piled with homework, in case it was Aunt Ava. Bradin opened the door and entered her room.

'So, since when are you with Cameron?' he asked with a small grin on his face.

'For your information, there was nothing between Cameron and I, until tonight.' She responded immediately, hoping that this would be the end of this subject.

'Yeah, right. Like there wasn't some sort of attraction, I've been around you long enough.' Bradin scoffed.

'Okay, when he came to Playa Linda, we were friends, but I thought that he liked Amber. But when Amber became my friend, I started to like him. I didn't think that he liked me back, but at the dance tonight, he asked me to dance, then he kissed me. And when we were walking home, he asked me to be his girlfriend. And…that's the entire story.' Nikki explained, kind of rushed, until she couldn't think of anything else to say.

'Congrats Nik, Cam is a good guy. He talked to me yesterday, asking me whether you liked him.'

'What?! What did you say??' Nikki exclaimed.

'Relax; I said that I didn't know, and that he should ask you himself.' Bradin explained.

'Okay, but if Aunt Ava asks anything, don't tell her…yet. I want to make sure that this is for real.' Nikki said, looking worried.

_Dear Diary,_

_Today was the big day of the dance, which I wasn't particularly looking forward to. I was sitting with Amber for most of it, but at one of the last slow songs, some guy from her English class asked her to dance, so I was on my own. It was pretty lonely, until I felt a tap on my shoulder. Cameron asked me to dance. Can you believe it? I thought that he liked that girl that was at the smoothie bar on Wednesday, the pretty redhead that Cam was talking to. But I guess that he was just being friendly. But back to the dance, do you know the best part? He kissed me! On the lips! It was amazing, and when he walked me home, he asked me to be his girlfriend! I know that that may not sound like much, but he was actually nervous, as if he thought that I would say no. It was adorable. _

_More later, _

_Nikki_

The next day, Cameron knocked on the front door.

Bradin answered, and called, 'Nikki, it's for you!'

'Thanks Bradin. Hey Cameron!' Nikki said, as soon as she walked downstairs, dressed in a cute yellow sundress, which made Cameron want to hug her, right there.

'Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to go for a picnic at the beach today.' Cameron asked, as he held up a wicker picnic basket, with a red-and-white checkered blanket sticking out of it.

'Just like in a movie.' Nikki thought, loving this idea.

'Yeah, just let me get my shoes.' Nikki replied, happily.

When they were at the beach, Cameron set up the picnic, and Nikki went off in search for a perfect rock, to paint for Cameron. This was one of her ways to relieve stress, and just something that she enjoyed doing. There wasn't much, except for the occasional piece of coloured beach glass. Suddenly, something caught her eye. There, in the middle of all of the other rocks, there was a perfect heart shaped rock.

'Perfect, he'll love it.' Nikki thought.

'Nikki! The food is ready!' Cameron called out from over at the blanket, which was set out with food.

Nikki straightened up, brushed off her dress, pocketed the rock, and walked over to her boyfriend.

'Mmm, everything looks so good! You even brought chicken salad sandwiches, my favourite!' Nikki said, touched that he would remember such small of a detail about her.

'Dig in!' Cameron said, placing a napkin in his lap, and carefully selecting a sandwich for himself.

As they were walking home, Nikki thought to herself, 'Cameron has _got_ to be the most perfect guy ever. I am _so_ lucky.'

_Dear Diary, _

_Today, Cameron and I went to the beach, for a picnic. It was so romantic; he even remembered that my favourite sandwich is chicken salad. Most guys can't even remember what day of the week it is. I found a heart shaped rock, which is perfect, aside the fact that I have been looking for one since I was six years old, but I'm going to give it to Cameron, to show him how I feel. God, you don't think that will be saying too much? Too little? There are far too many ways of receiving a heart shaped rock, don't you think? I should go, if I want to paint it by tomorrow. _

_Nikki._

When Nikki woke up the next day, she could feel the emptiness in the house. She knew that something was wrong. She couldn't even hear Derrick, which was odd for a Sunday morning. She walked downstairs, and realized that everyone was up, and sitting at the dining room table. Nikki could feel the suspecting eyes of Ava, Susannah, Johnny, Jay, Bradin and Derrick on her.

'Um...good morning!' Nikki said, trying to act as if there was nothing wrong.

'Would you like to tell us what is happening between you and Cameron?' Ava said, cutting to the chase.

'Cameron and I? Um, we're going out.' Nikki said, quickly.

'Since when?' Ava returned, wanting to know everything.

'Since the dance, actually. He asked me to be his girlfriend.' Nikki explained.

'Really? Oh, well, good for you two.' Ava said, glad that this little chat was over.

'That's it? I'm not in trouble or anything?' Nikki said, a little suspicious.

'No, I just wanted to know. He came to the door yesterday, without Amber, so I was wondering a little, no big deal, though.'

'Um, okay, I'm going to go get breakfast now, if you don't mind.' Nikki said, glad to make an escape from this conversation.

Nikki decided to go to the smoothie bar, to visit Cameron. She got her cell phone, to leave him a message, her freshly painted rock, and her shoes. She told Ava that she was leaving, and headed out the door. On her walk, she thought about her conversation with her family. Nikki was really glad that they had been okay about the whole ordeal. She started to hum to herself as she walked along the boardwalk, until she reached her destination. She spotted Cameron, and was about to call out his name, when she realized that he wasn't alone.

'Red hair, so it couldn't be Amber.' Nikki said to herself, as she racked her brain to find out who that girl was. 'Oh my gosh, it's that girl from Wednesday!!!' she gasped, thankfully not loud enough for either of them to hear.

Nikki continued to stare at them, to the point of spying. She wasn't close enough to hear, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to be able to hear what that red haired girl had to say. They were just talking, until they both got up, and Cameron pulled her into a hug. This time, Nikki gasped loud enough for both of them of step out of their embrace and to turn around. As soon as they turned, Nikki bolted, accidentally leaving her heart shaped rock on the table.

'Nikki!' Cameron called out, a little confused, of what had just happened.

_Dear Nikki, I was-_

_Nikki, that wasn't what-_

_Yo Niks, lets be-_

_AAAARRGGHHH!!!_

Cameron was trying to compose an e-mail to Nikki, to try to explain, although he wasn't coming up with any brilliant ideas. He wanted to tell her, but he didn't want to explain who the red-headed girl was. He knew that Nikki would get mad, he just knew it. He had to explain it to her, or else life would be hell.

Nikki took the small silver piece of technology and turned it on. For a couple of minutes, she let herself be completely absorbed by the lyrics of the song.

'I don't want another pretty face

I don't want just anyone to hold

I don't want my love to go to waste

I want you and your beautiful soul

You're the one I wanna chase

You're the one I wanna hold

I won't let another minute go to waste

I want you and your beautiful soul'

Nikki sighed loudly, and pulled the ear buds out of her ears. She turned her iPod off, and contemplated throwing it out of her bedroom window. Cameron had taken hostage of her iPod last week, and uploaded a bunch of songs, including this one. She had been trying to forget about him all morning, ever since the incident at the smoothie bar.

'This definitely isn't helping.' She said out loud.

'Nikki, honey, phone's for you!' Ava called from the bottom of the stairs.

'I got it!' Nikki said, as she retrieved the phone, from under a pile of clothes.

'Hello?' she said cautiously, in case it was Cameron.

'Hey' Amber's voice flooded into Nikki's ear. 'I heard what happened, Cameron called.'

'Oh' Nikki said flatly. 'What did he say? Any explanation?'

'No, he wanted to send you an e-mail, explaining what happened, but he couldn't think of anything to write. So he called me instead. Cameron is afraid, Nikki, afraid that you will never forgive him.'

'Did he explain why he was with that red haired person?' Nikki asked hopefully, hoping that it wasn't a big deal, so she could forgive him, and things would be back to normal.

'Um, no. He said that he wanted to come over himself, to try to explain things himself.' Amber explained.

'Oh, okay. You know what? I'm not feeling too hot, so I'm going to go lie down, okay?' said Nikki, hoping that Amber would take a hint.

'Okay, I hope you feel better!' Amber said, kind of glad to get off this subject. 'See you tomorrow!'

'Bye!' Nikki said, before hanging up the phone, and tossing it on her messy, unmade bed.

Cameron sat in his room. He had been sitting against the wall on the floor of his bedroom for the last hour. As soon as he saw Nikki at the smoothie bar, he had bid goodbye to Annah, his red haired ex-girlfriend. Of course, Nikki wouldn't understand, even if he told her that Nicole was his _ex_-girlfriend. Cameron turned the heart shaped rock over in his hand. He had seen it on the table, after Nikki had left. He assumed that it was for him. He sighed loudly, got up, and walked over to his bed. After he lied down, he heard a knock at his door.

'Come in.' He said, hoping that it wouldn't be Nikki. He wasn't ready to see her, not yet, anyways.

The door opened slowly, and in walked Cameron's older sister, Maggie.

'Hey, why are you in such a bad mood today? Ever since you got back from the smoothie bar. Weren't you going to meet Nikki there?' She asked.

Cameron told her the whole story, starting with the smoothie bar, and finishing with the heart shaped rock.

'You know what you should do?' she asked, and without waiting for an answer, she continued. "You should go to her house, and explain everything, so you at least have _that_ off of your chest. And she'll know, that's the most important thing. Go soon, okay?'

'Um, yeah, I'll do that.' Cameron said, although he wasn't really listening.

'See ya later' said Maggie, getting of his bed, and closing the door behind her.

A minute later, there was another knock on the door.

'What is this, check on Cameron's mental health day or something?' Cameron mumbled as he got up to open the door.

Standing at the door stood Cam's younger brother, Kyle, in his swimming trunks. He had a snorkel in one hand, and a football in the other.

'Can you come to the beach with me, and play football?' he asked, hoping that Cam would say yes.

'Um…sure, just let me grab a shirt.'

As soon as the two brothers got to the beach, Kyle insisted on going into the ocean.

'I'll watch, okay?' Cameron said.

'Fine, don't take your eyes off of me, okay?' Kyle grinned as he said this. He loved being with his older brother.

'Alright, then.' Cameron said, handing him his snorkel.

Kyle ran into the ocean, and Cameron sat down in the sand, tossing the football into the air. Cameron wondered how Kyle was always so happy. Nothing seemed to bother him too much. When his goldfish died, he seemed remorseful, but no tears came. All he said was that he was glad that Goldie was in a better place. Now, Kyle looked absolutely ecstatic to be in the ocean, with one of his favourite people in the world watching him from the soft sand.

'Cam! Watch this!' Kyle yelled, as he dived over a big wave. After he came up from the water, he turned to his big brother, grinned, and gave Cameron a big thumbs up.

'Awesome!' Cameron exclaimed, also giving him the thumbs up.

As Kyle continued to play in the surf, Cameron stared out into the horizon, wishing that there was a simple solution to his problem. He was starting to get sad, so he willed himself to think of something else, such as the upcoming community center baseball team. Thinking of that, Cameron successfully kept his mind of his Nikki problem for a full three minutes.

"Will she let me come and explain? Is that the end of the best relationship I've ever been in? Why can't she just let me back into her life? If only it was that simple…'

Derrick was walking alone on the beach, thinking. He had just been with his girlfriend, Martha, and he had walked her home. He was only twelve, but he had been 'dating' Martha for two years. Most people would call that a record, but Derrick thought that he was so lucky. He was in love with Martha, and she seemed to return the feelings.

'Cameron!' he called suddenly, when he spotted his sister's boyfriend. He decided to jog the fifty feet over to where Cameron was playing catch with his brother, and Derrick's friend, Kyle.

'Why aren't you with Nikki?' Derrick asked, with a certain twelve-year-old bluntness.

'Um…Nikki is kind of mad at me at the moment.' Cameron responded with a small grimace on his face.

'Oh, she looked a bit mad this morning, but Bradin just said that she was in a bad mood. You should go talk to her, she looks miserable.' Derrick stated, although with every thing that he said about Nikki, it broke Cameron's heart.

'Thanks Derrick.' Cameron said, trying to hide the fact that he felt like he was dying, right there on the beach.

'See you later. Bye Kyle, see you at school!' Derrick called, as Kyle waved goodbye.

'What was that all about?' Kyle asked, still holding the football.

'Uh, nothing. Nikki and I had a bit of a misunderstanding…that's all.' Cameron tried to explain, as if they fought all of the time.

'Oh, I hope that you guys make up. I like Nikki.' Kyle said, encouragingly.

Cameron was sitting on the beach, and Nikki was walking towards him. 'Bet you didn't want me to find out, eh?' she said, with a hint of meanness in her voice, which was completely un-Nikki like. 'You thought that you could go behind my back, and be with that red-haired bitch? Well, you thought wrong!' And with that, she pulled out a gun. Cameron closed his eyes, and heard her pull the trigger. Then, she aimed and shot…

Cameron woke up with a start, and searched his chest for a bullet hole. But when he couldn't find one, he realized that it had just been a dream. His T-shirt was sticking to his back with sweat, and his pillow was on the ground. He looked at the clock, which read 3:42.

'Too early.' He sighed.

As much as he tried, he couldn't get back to sleep. He read a book, but couldn't concentrate. He tried checking his e-mail, but it was just junk mail. He went down to the kitchen to find something to eat, but realized that he wasn't hungry. Finally, he grabbed a sweatshirt, and slipped out of his silent house. He walked for a long time, just listening to the sound of the crashing waves. His mind was full of thoughts, yet completely empty.

Nikki sat at the smoothie bar, sipping a frothy smoothie, watching the sun set, when a certain red-haired girl walked into the patio. She walked over to Cameron, grabbed the back of his head, leaned in closely, and kissed him. The kiss seemed to last for ever, and Derrick and Kyle were there, yelling, "PDA! PDA!' Nikki tried to get up from her chair, but found that she was stuck. She was still trying to get up, when Cam looked at her and just laughed.

Nikki opened her eyes. 'Just a nightmare.' She said out loud. She glanced at the clock; 7:56. So she swung her legs off of her bed, grabbed a towel, and headed for the shower.

Cameron had made up his mind; he was going over to Nikki's house to explain, as soon as the sun came up. He had been sitting by the beach, in between his house and Nikki's. He had gone back to his house, grabbed his iPod, and lay out in the sand, watching the sky turn from an inky blue to a soft pinkish-orange. Currently playing in his ears were the very lyrics that were playing in Nikki's ears the day before.

'I don't want another pretty face

I don't want just anyone to hold

I don't want my love to go to waste

I want you and your beautiful soul

You're the one I wanna chase

You're the one I wanna hold

I won't let another minute go to waste

I want you and your beautiful soul'

As Cam listened to these words, it dawned on him, he really like Nikki, even maybe loved her. He needed to tell her how he felt, at least. He sat up, and checked the time, 8:16.

'Maybe too early, but I can always make small talk with Ava.' He thought to himself.

With this thought, he got up, brushed the sand off of him, and started to jog over to Nikki's house.

_Dear Diary,_

_I thought that I really liked him. Why did he have to be with the red-haired girl? I don't even know her name! What kind of a relationship is that?! I wish that we were still friends, so it wouldn't bother me as much. I mean, when Cameron was dating Amber, I hated her guts, but Cam and I were still friends. And now, Amber is one of my best friends! But from now on, I don't associate myself with people with red hair. I really want to talk to Cam, but I also really don't. I'm not sure what to do. Help!_

Cameron took a deep breath, and knocked on the door. Ava opened the door, and gestured him into the house.

'Nikki is upstairs.' She said. 'That is, if you want to talk to her.' She added as an afterthought.

Nikki was lying on her bed, wrapped in her sheets, slightly resembling a cocoon. She had been in this position for the past forty-five minutes. Both Susannah and Bradin had been to her door, asking if she wanted anything to eat, but she had declined both times.

She was hoping that no one else would disturb her, and let her think in peace. She fell asleep, thinking about Cam and that strange dream, when she heard something, strangely like a knock on her door.

'Nikki, honey?' Ava called at her door, with Cameron standing by her side, feeling a bit nervous.

When nobody answered, Ava decided to open the door and check on her. When she walked in, she saw that Nikki was curled up in her bed, fast asleep. Seeing her that peaceful, she decided to leave her alone.

'She's asleep right now, but you can wait downstairs if you want.' She explained.

'Oh, okay, I'll wait.' Cameron responded, a bit discouraged that he wouldn't be able to talk to her.

Ava led Cameron downstairs to the couch, where he sat down. The two were making small talk when the phone rang. Susannah answered from the cordless phone in the kitchen, where she was making herself a cup of coffee.

'Ava? It's for you.' She called, holding the phone out.

'I'll be right back Cameron. Thanks Susannah. Hello? No, those were supposed to be in magenta. No. Yes. Alright. Let me just get a pen.' Ava said, gesturing that she was going upstairs.

Cameron sat on the couch in the living room for a couple more minutes, then realized something. He had forgotten his heart-shaped rock on the beach.

'Susannah? I'll be back in a minute.' He said, before slipping out of the house and running to the beach.

Cameron ran full speed to the sand, where he had been sitting just a few hours ago. When he reached the exact spot that he had been lying down, he fell down on his knees, and started digging in the soft, beige sand. He was starting to feel discouraged, and then, he saw it. There it was, sitting a few inches below the sand, placed perfectly. He admired it, then realizing what he was there for; he picked it up, and jogged back to the Gregory/Westerly residence.

Nikki stirred. She had heard her door open, and she had the vague memory of Cameron at her door. She opened her eyes, and realized that she had fallen asleep. She sat up, realized why she was vaguely disgruntled, and then lay back down.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. 'Yeah? Come in' Nikki replied, sounding sleepy.

The door opened, and Cameron walked in, to find Nikki wrapped up in a blanket, facing the wall. He took a deep breath before saying, 'Nikki? I know you probably don't want to talk to me, but I have to tell you what happened.'

Nikki sat up, and looked at him expectantly. 'Go on.' She said, slightly coldly.

'Well, um, that girl that you saw me with? Her name is Annah, and she used to be my girlfriend, before I came to Playa Linda. She was here with her family, because her grandmother is sick, and she lives here. So she called me and asked if we could meet. I went to meet her, and she wanted to know if we could get back together. I told her that I was already seeing someone, and she said that it was okay, she was just throwing that out there, but she had met someone back home. We were just talking, and she was leaving, and we hugged. Just a friendly hug, that's all you saw.' Cameron explained, looking a lot more relieved than he did a minute ago.

'I'm sorry. I overreacted, and I've been miserable ever since. I know that you probably want to leave now, but I just want you to know that I still want to be friends.' Nikki said, blushing, as if she said too much.

Suddenly, Cameron walked over from where he was standing from the door frame to Nikki's bed, where he sat down. He wrapped his arms around Nikki, pulling her into a strong hug. 'I missed you.' he murmured in her ear.

'Me too.' Nikki whispered back, hugging him tightly, hoping that this moment would last forever.


End file.
